[ RadSafe ] query for radsafe

[Rich, John]

WOW, what a story  - - -

One cautionary note on measurements.  If the skyshine dose rates are low, then the background can mess up the measurements. As an example, the TLD doses at the site boundary of a NPP have been lower than the baseline measurements that are taken miles away.  This is counter-intuitive, and would be unacceptable to an ativist.  So, if you take measurements, the skyshine has to be separated from radon, cosmic rays, etc., etc., etc.  Maybe a directional gamma measurement would be acceptable to all concerned.

 - - - jmr


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Brennan, Mike (DOH)
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2010 12:39 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] query for radsafe

Hi Mark.  

There is a joke in which a biologist, zoologist, and physicist are asked
to describe an elephant.  To cut to the punch line, the physicist starts
his description, "Assume the elephant is a sphere..."  

I have been involved in a couple of situations where the geometry of the
source was very complex, as it is in your situation.  I have concluded
that modeling is likely to cause more problems than it solves.  You
either get an answer so simplistic as to be useless, or so complex that
it is unusable.  And if you say, "At the maximum point the dose is X +/-
X" some activist will say, "It is 2X EVERYWHERE, times the population of
the state, this means, by their own numbers, 10,000 cases of random
murder!" (I was actually at a public meeting where a noted activist said
this.)  

I would suggest taking some measurements and making a map.  Even if you
model it, you will have to take some measurements to verify your model,
so you might as well cut to the chase.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Mark Sonter
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 5:32 PM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] query for radsafe

Hi -

Does anyone out there in RadsafeLand have any simple 'rule of thumb' or 
formula for estimating roughly the skyshine (sky scattered gamma) from a

large area of irradiating surface such as a uranium tailings deposit, 
given area of deposit, radium content in it, and horizontal distance 
from deposit to receptor point?

Mark Sonter


-- 
Mark Sonter

Radiation Advice & Solutions Pty Ltd,   abn 31 891 761 435
Asteroid Enterprises Pty Ltd,   abn 53 008 115 302

116 Pennine Drive, South Maclean, Queensland 4280, Australia

Phone / fax  (07) 3297 7653   Mobile 0412 433 286

"Keep everything as simple as possible, but no simpler"  - A. Einstein

--This email was produced using recycled electrons--


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